"Yes, yes, yes. I do miss you..."
Dongfang Yi rubbed her fists and grinned wickedly at Situ Qing, her face getting closer and closer.
"What... what are you up to?" Situ Qing had a bad feeling in his heart and leaned back a bit resistantly.
When Dongfang Yi's face was right in front of his, his breath suddenly caught. This woman in front of him had eyes that shone brighter than stars, and even her nose seemed to be glistening. Her lips were curved at the perfect angle, looking extremely charming.
Oh no, this uncontrollable flutter in his heart...
"Qingqing... lend me some more silver, okay?" Dongfang Yi blinked her big eyes in front of him.
Situ Qing subconsciously nodded and said yes. He simply couldn't refuse such a Dongfang Yi.
"Five thousand taels? Gold?" she continued.
Only then did Situ Qing come to his senses. He frowned slightly and pushed the woman in front of him a bit farther away, asking, "What do you need so much silver for?"
Seeing that her scheme had failed, Dongfang Yi sighed and said, "Our Duoyu Inn is too old - fashioned. I want to renovate it and add a few more items."
Old - fashioned? Situ Qing was a bit surprised. Although he didn't fully understand Dongfang Yi's words, from her dissatisfied expression, he roughly understood that she thought the Duoyu Inn was not good.
He couldn't help but feel a bit displeased. Leaving other things aside, his Duoyu Inn was the most luxurious inn in the entire Nanwu region, and it was even built on a boat. Ordinary civilians couldn't afford to stay there.
So he asked, "How do you want to change it?"
Hearing his question, Dongfang Yi immediately perked up and began to explain, "Our Duoyu Inn is very luxurious, but the problem is that it's too expensive, which will make many customers turn away."
Situ Qing had never thought that being expensive could be a bad thing. So he continued to ask, "So?"
"So we can make some modifications. We can set up a tiered system and introduce membership cards. Some wealthy people can recharge money here to get a membership card, and then they can enjoy better services. Those who can't afford the membership card can just consume as usual." Dongfang Yi said.
"Membership cards?" Situ Qing's expression became even more surprised. He had never heard of such a strange idea and term.
"Go on," he said.
"As for the silver I asked for, it's actually to recruit more cooks. We should try to recruit cooks who can make all kinds of dishes. Then we'll add various entertainment items, like playing mahjong and poker. I've even come up with a name for it. It'll be called the 'game room'."
Dongfang Yi was getting more and more eager as she spoke. She was bringing all the modern things over. Anyway, there was no need to worry about breaking the law here. So why not just go all out?
Situ Qing's expression had become even more confused. What were mahjong and poker? He had never even heard of them, let alone doing such things in his own inn.
"What on earth are those?!" he asked with a somewhat panicked expression.
"Ah - they're just some really fun games. Don't worry. I'll find someone to make them. Then I'll teach you all how to play. Once we're all set, we can reopen the inn. I guarantee our business will boom. Hahaha."
Dongfang Yi was so excited that she was almost drooling. She could already imagine herself lying on a pile of money and counting it.
"Um... okay. I'll give you the silver. Just go ahead and do it," Situ Qing said. Seeing how excited she was, he couldn't bear to refuse her.
Anyway, he could still afford five thousand taels of gold. Moreover, if things really turned out as she said, he was actually a bit looking forward to that "game room".
Hearing his approval, Dongfang Yi let out a happy cry and then stood up and spun around on the spot.
Situ Qing was sitting on one side. The corners of his mouth curled up uncontrollably, and his heart was also filled with joy as he watched the woman in front of him being so happy.
Sure enough, as long as this woman was happy, anything he did was worth it.
Dongfang Yi took the money and led some people off the boat to go shopping. First, she found a local carpenter with the best craftsmanship and handed him the blueprints of mahjong and poker that she had drawn. She told him to make a hundred sets.
The carpenter had never seen such strange things before, but since the deposit Dongfang Yi gave was really hard to refuse, he said he was willing to give it a try.
The second thing was to completely renovate the interior of the inn. Although the Duoyu Inn was very luxurious now, Dongfang Yi always thought it was too formal and lacked the flavor of the market.
Where was there a place for people to eat and have fun that was decorated so grandly? So she bought a lot of red gauze and many calligraphy and paintings in the market, mostly those brightly - colored pictures.
All these were carried by the cooks and waiters behind her. They were all very confused. They were sweating profusely while carrying the things but didn't dare to ask any questions, because after all, she was the inn's mistress.
Soon they bought all the things and returned to the Duoyu Inn with a full load. After they got back, Situ Qing widened his eyes in surprise and asked, "Did you bring the whole market here?"
"These were all ordered by Miss Dongfang," the head chef of the inn, Chef Li, replied.
The woman whose name was mentioned was at the back of everyone. She was sitting on a new set of chairs they had bought, scribbling with a pen and muttering to herself.
Soon she stood up and walked up to Chef Li. She stuffed a blueprint into his hand and said, "Go find another carpenter with good craftsmanship in the city. Ask him to make the tables on this blueprint. We need a hundred sets. The sooner the better!"
On the blueprint was an automatic mahjong table, which could only be seen in modern times. However, since there was no electricity here, they had to settle for a manual one.
This was the result of Dongfang Yi's research during the journey. With this, it would be much more convenient for people to play mahjong.
After doing all this, Dongfang Yi let out a long sigh of relief and then said, "Now there's only one last thing left!"
"Ah? There's still one more thing?!" Everyone exclaimed.
Even Situ Qing asked in surprise, "Do we still need to buy something?"
"No, no, no. There's only one last thing left, and that is to select... cooks!" Dongfang Yi said excitedly.
After she said this, the kitchen staff on one side all froze. Selecting cooks? Did that mean they were going to be out of work?
Dongfang Yi seemed to sense their worry, so she comforted them, "Don't worry. You can still stay, but we really do need cooks who can make other kinds of dishes."
After hearing Dongfang Yi's guarantee, they finally let out a long sigh of relief, and the stones in their hearts finally dropped.